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Shop Time
Shop Time Assuming your design project needs to be built, you are going to be needing the help of one of the Engineering shops to get your stuff built. The main shop used for this class is located in Dana Room 46 on the bottom floor and is accessed by the last door on your right at the far East end of the hall. The office inside is run by Miles Pepper (Engineering Tech Supervisor) and he will be your primary contact with the shop. Note: A wood shop, located in Dana across the hall, and more buildings South of EE/ME are also used by this head shop. Use of any tools, machines, or facilities are done by permission only. Do not use the equipment unless Miles says so! More Than Just A Pretty Face While the shop is here to provide a service for the labs and departments in the area, the most valuable tool at your disposal is the advice and experience from the guys that work there. At any given time you can find either Miles, Gary, or Kurt in the shop and they are often more than happy to talk about a project. Things to keep in mind -You may have been studying engineering for 4+ years, but some of these guys have been working in shops since before you were born. They can usually tell you if something is going to work. -Be open to change. This is a design project. What looks good on paper may be extremely difficult to manufacture. Or, there may be a simpler solution available. Note: The shop can order whatever materials are needed for the project and will include the cost in the work order. They also have lots of parts and materials in stock to reduce lead time. Getting In Line So you have some parts, or maybe the entire project designed, and you want to get it built. What's next? Shop time, and the sooner you get queued in line the better. While you may have talked to the guys in the shop about your project, they can't design it off of memory and conversation alone; they need documentation. The perfect package for a given part or assembly is as follows -The part file modeled in a 3D program such as SolidWorks. (This is for reference, and may not be necessary) -CAD drawings for the parts, as well as the assembly with all required dimensions and views included. These will be printed drawings that are referenced in order to build your project. -Any .dxf files, or similar, necessary for water-jet or computer milled pieces. Assuming you have this package in hand, don't just plop it in their inbox. You want to make sure you hand it personally to whoever is in charge, go over the drawings to see if anything is missing, and possibly have a thumbdrive with parts files if those are to be included. If you have never made drawings before, look online at common formats. SolidWorks has default settings for drawings, but get familiar with industry standards. Ordering Work? Need a Work Order What the shop is going to ask from you is a work order. Basically this is permission from the department (specifically ME 416) to charge the shop time and materials. You can do this by filling out a work order as described in another section of this wiki. Miles will want a work order number from you signed by the secretary, and the secretary will need written permission from Dr. Chuck. If you are not sure how long to bill the shop for, talk to the guys there. They can look at your project and estimate times depending on how specific your design is. An estimation is exactly that, so don't expect exact numbers until all is said and done. For DIY Types So far most of this guide has provided information for getting parts made in the skill shops, but some of you may be interested in "do it your self" (DIY) resources that are available on campus. Depending on your project and group experience the option to make some parts yourself may be an advantageous one. The following bullet points provide some realistic options for getting DIY shop time. Please note that it is important that you don't attempt to use some piece of equipment that is out of your comfort zone. But since we are ME's there is a good chance that you or someone in your group has machine shop experience from high school, college clubs, internships, or is an actual certified machinist (believe it or not but this does happen sometimes). The Cougar Shop * Kurt is the head machinist of the Cougar Shop and has been very generous to help many capstone projects over the years. It is important to realize that his time is a very precious resource given how many classes he has to teach in the shop. If you want to use his equipment it is important that you have taken his ME311 lab (which acts as your basic safety training) and you have to work when Kurt's schedule allows for it. Plan ahead if you want to do your work in the Cougar Shop and make sure you know what days Kurt is available to let people in. Also make sure you let him know what parts you want to make and what machines you need. * If you are going to use any of the basic machines (such as lathes, mills, saws, etc.) you should take heed of the information in this section. Don't use any piece of equipment that you lack experience in. However that being said if you know the fundamentals of using a particular type of machine then it is probably fine to use it, so long as you ask Kurt or his TA's how all of the controls work. An example of this would be if you have a significant amount of experience using a lathe, but its your first time using the particular lathe in Kurt's shop. If your first time using this particular lathe you probably don't know where all of the controls are. Make sure you have Kurt or one of his TA's run through the controls before you attempt to start it. This is a typical scenario as all makes and models of lathes will have slightly different controls, but the important thing is that the individual operating the lathe knows all of the fundamentals of using a lathe to machine parts (such as appropriate spindle speed, tool setup, general safety information, etc.). 3D Printing Options * You will also find in your projects that creating parts on a 3D printer may be a viable and worth while option for making your own parts. This method of manufacturing is also very safe for beginners as it's a fairly hands off process. There are several places on campus that can provide 3D printing services. Many of these printers are also found in the some of the shops around campus which is why they are listed in this shop time wiki. This still generally falls under DIY as you have to understand the process and limitations of 3D printing parts and you might have to do some amount of post processing (i.e. filing off excess support material) yourself. Also depending on what printer you decide to use may require more or less time to be committed to getting your parts ready for it. * The Cougar Shop offers a couple of different consumer grade 3D printers that are great for creating prototypes or relatively large parts. The printers here can only make parts from one kind of plastic so if your part requires two different plastics or has to use the soluble support material then you should try the printers in the FIZ. If you are going to use the printers in the Cougar Shop make sure you already have your parts saved as an STL file before bringing them down. Ask Kurt or one of his TA's to show you the PC that is in the corner that's used for 3D printing and they will create a folder on the desktop that you can deposit your STL files into to be printed. Also note that Kurt's printers are primarily run by the TA's so it is a good Idea to stop by once a day to check on the progress of the print jobs. It is also generally recommended if you have the time to help the TA's with setting up the printer or fixing it if it runs into technical difficulties. * The FIZ has very high quality 3D printers that are great for parts that have very small details or that need to have a good surface finish. The FIZ printers also use the soluble support material so your parts will be ready to go without any need to pry/file off excess material. To use these printers talk to Kirk or one of the students working in the FIZ and they will take your STL files and load them into the printing queue. They should also be able to give you a good ETA for what time they will be available to be picked up. Final Thoughts - Try and get shop time scheduled ASAP. This doesn't mean rushing the design, but many other people are using the shop time too. Your project may get slated to get started 2 weeks out. The closer to the end of the semester, the busier they get. - The guys in the shop work there, but they care about the projects. By getting advice and working with the shop to design your project it improves your design but also gives you both a greater sense of pride and responsibility in the project. - Remember, you aren't the only ones needing their time. If someone you need to talk to is busy, be patient or see if you can return later. Category:Academic Tips Category:ME 416 Help